Sunshine!

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Mon 23 Jun 2014 03:49
Noon position: 47 55.8 N 145 33.5 E
Course: East sou' east , Speed 3.5 knots
Wind: North east
Weather: sunny and cool
Day's run: 24 nm (31 sailed and drifted)

“I hate storms, but calms undermine my spirits.” Bernard Moitessier

This morning I was feeling a little depressed about our progress and wondering whether perhaps I had made a mistake in bringing Sylph to this part of the world. The last two days have been cloaked in thick grey fog, the seas silver smooth, everything damp and cold, and worst of all there has been very little wind. But at around ten o'clock the wind started to come out of the north and being a cool dry breeze it has blown the fog clean away bringing a crisp blue sky and crinkling the sea into dark blue wavelets. It is a headwind, but it is a wind, and Sylph is leaning over slightly to it and making good close to four knots. We are moving, which, along with the sunshine, cheers me up enormously.

As the fog cleared fishing boats were revealed scattered around the horizon and one of the nearer ones came over, all clean and glistening white in the sunshine, took up station off our port quarter and followed us for a while. He hailed me on a loudspeaker but it was all Japanese to me. I shrugged my shoulders and waved. I never saw a soul, as everyone was esconced inside the bridge, but in response to my wave a “Goodbye” came over the loudspeaker, and the fishing boat hauled off to starboard, passed astern of us and presumably went back to his fishing.

We are now approaching the eastern extremity of Hokkaido so, with a little luck, we shall soon be saying farewell to Japan.

All is well.